Dortmund storm past Leverkusen 4 2 to keep alive Champions League chance

LEVERKUSEN, Germany - Borussia Dortmund powered back from a goal down to crush hosts Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 in the Bundesliga on Sunday, keeping alive their chance of a top-four finish going into the final matchday next week.

Dortmund have now won six of their last seven league games to climb up from 11th to fifth and are just a point behind fourth-placed Freiburg.

The Ruhr valley club, last years Champions League finalists, have 54 points going into next weeks season finale, with the top four teams earning automatic qualification for next seasons Champions League.

Yet they found themselves a goal down in the 31st minute with Leverkusens Jeremie Frimpong giving the hosts a deserved lead in coach Xabi Alonsos final home match.

The Spaniard announced on Friday that he will leave at the end of the season, having joined in October 2022 and led them to the domestic double last season without defeat while also reaching the Europa League final.

We lived a lot of special moments and it was a mixed feeling in the last home game. We are thankful for what we achieved in the past three years, Alonso told a press conference.

I have changed a lot in these years. We had many experiences. Luckily most of them good ones, today maybe not but I will forget this one quickly, he said. What I lived here in Leverkusen has been very special.

We played a very good first half but keeper (Dortmund keeper Gregor) Kobel made saves. In the second half, we were not good. But football today for me was not the most important thing, Alonso said.

A half-dozen saves by Kobel kept them in the game in the first half but after Leverkusens goal the visitors never looked back.

Dortmund levelled two minutes later with